Secret Justu-One shot-
by FallenQueen2
Summary: The Nara Clan has a secret justu that they only use when all else fails. When Shikamaru is delivering a message to Gaara, he is ambushed and the youngest Nara has no choice. However there is a reason why the justu is only used when all else fails. Ft. Konoha 12 and gaara of the sand and Team 10 feels all around at the end.


**Naruto Shippuden. Secret Justu-One shot-**

**The Nara Clan has a secret justu that they only use when all else fails. When Shikamaru is delivering a message to Gaara, he is ambushed and the youngest Nara has no choice. However there is a reason why the justu is only used when all else fails. Team 10 feels all around at the end.**

**Timeline: before Asuma well you know…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of its characters.**

* * *

**Secret Justu**

Shikamaru Nara the youngest to rise to the level of chunin in Konoha was travelling through the desert heading towards Sunagakure to hand deliver a scroll from Tsunade the Godaime Hokage to Gaara the Kazekage. It held important battle strategies about what to do about the Akatsuki and their plan regarding the tailed beasts. Shikamaru was sent alone, as Lady Tsunade couldn't spare any other ninja to travel with him. The Nara teenager didn't mind, he enjoyed being on his own and that meant he could travel at a quicker pace not bothering to hold up the illusion of being the 'lazy' ninja. No one would be able to tell by looking at him, but Shikamaru was almost as fast as Kiba and he was getting close to the same level of strength as Sakura. He wasn't at her and Lady Tsunade's level just yet, but he was stronger and faster than he looked. He kept his sense's open as he ran across the open plain, sand being kicked up behind him as he went. Shikamaru felt a stone settling in the pit of his stomach and skidded to a halt, eyes narrowing as he looked around him. His eyes opened wide as he looked down, he tensed and sprung upwards just as a giant hand made of dirt and stone erupted from under where he had been standing.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru groaned as he saw two missing nin, (not Akatsuki thankfully) rise up from the dry and cracked ground below him. He knew what they were after and he would not let them get their hands on the scroll.

Using his charka the teen managed to stay in the air longer than normal as he pulled out the scroll and regretfully slapped an explosive seal onto it before tossing it into the air across from him. He watched with satisfaction as the scroll went up in a ball of flames. He felt something hard wrap around his right ankle, he looked down and swore under his breath. The hand from before was now wrapped firmly around his ankle. With a tug Shikamaru was rapidly falling back down to earth. He hit the ground with a cry of pain, focusing his charka sent a burst of it into the earth created hand that was wrapped around his ankle. It disappeared into a dust cloud and the leaf ninja jumped to his feet, he quickly created a clone of himself. The real Nara pulled out a few kunai with explosive tags on the ends and threw them towards the missing nin, in the following explosions the clone rushed away heading back towards Konoha.

The two ninja with slashed forehead protectors were both earth justu users and together they created a huge body of a man.

"Easy mission, yeah right." Shikamaru took in the situation he was currently in. His clones were heading to the village to warn the Hokage of what was happening and the scroll holding the message was destroyed. His shadow justu's would not work on this earth created creature and as said creature was attacking the shadow ninja there was no way Shikamaru could stay in one place long enough to capture the enemies shadows and control their actions. His planning was cut short as the earth creature's hands wrapped around his waist, squeezing him tightly and he felt a few ribs crack under the pressure.

"I've heard rumors about Konoha ninja's, this is a perfect time to test to see how correct those rumors are." The blonde missing nin had jumped up onto the forearm of the earth creature right beside where Shikamaru was being held.

"No matter what you do to me, I won't tell you anything." Shikamaru locked eyes with the ninja next to him.

"People always say that, then the pain begins and they will do anything to stop it." The missing nin leaned closer so his lips were right beside Shikamaru's ear. The teenager pulled away from the ninja, hating the feeling of breath near his ear.

"Don't count on it." Shikamaru bit out.

"We shall see my little leaf ninja." The man smirked and the pressure from the sand tightened so hard that Shikamaru saw stars before darkness.

* * *

_Konoha_

The Shikamaru clone had made excellent time, he was directly connected with the real version being fed by his charka and he could feel everything his real self did. He entered the village and ran through the village as quickly as he could. He had to get to Lady Tsunade and tell her what happened out in the desert.

"Shikamaru! Hey!" Naruto called out, waving at the other teenager.

"I don't have time for this right now Naruto." Shikamaru's clone called out before falling to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain as his real self's ribs started to crack under an unseen pressure.

"Whoa! Hey what's wrong? Are you alright?" Naruto was at his friend's side in an instant.

Shikamaru coughed up blood and frowned. "Pierced a lung, Naruto! You have to get me to the Hokage right now!"

"Right!" Naruto saw the look in Shikamaru's eyes, he gently picked up his friend in his arms as the black haired teen curled in on himself in pain. "Just hang on Shika!"

"Hurry Naru." Shika coughed up more blood.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto shouted as he kicked down the door to Tsunade's office.

"Naruto? How many times have I told you not to…." Her words trailed off as she saw the Nara teen cradled in the blonde's arms.

"What happened? Set him down Naruto!" Tsunade snapped into medical mode when she saw the blood trickling out of Shikamaru's mouth.

"Don't bother." Shikamaru coughed. "I'm just a clone, I'm connected to his charka so anything he feels I feel. On our way to Sunagakure two missing nin, not part of the Akatsuki ambushed me; they are both earth justu users and captured me. I burned the scroll so the message will not fall into their hands, but from what I'm feeling they have taken me captive. The likely outcome will be torture but I will not break and when they see that I have nothing to tell them they will more than likely kill me."

"I'll dispatch teams to get Shikamaru back right away, make sure there is a medical ninja apart of the retrieval team." Tsunade ordered loudly and Shizure nodded before rushing out to give the order.

The Shikamaru clone gasped as bloody cuts appeared on his body in many different places and bones broke. Then his whole body became surrounded in charka before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Baa-chan, send Sakura and me to go find Shikamaru!" Naruto looked up with steely determination in his eyes.

"Go." Tsunade nodded waving her hand looking at the spot the Shikamaru clone disappeared.

"Even his clones are smart." Tsunade quickly copied down the coordinates the clone had written on the ground with his blood.

"I'll bring him home safe, believe it Baa-chan!" Naruto swore and he ran out of the office to grab Sakura and find the team Shizure put together to bring Shikamaru back.

Naruto found Sakura and filled her in on the situation and they both rushed towards the gates where Shizure was informing the team on what happened. The team was made up of the remaining Konoha 12.

"Shikamaru's clone left us coordinates of where to find Shika." Naruto showed the others the coordinates.

"Let's move out, time is of the essence." Neji commented.

* * *

_With Shikamaru_

"Ugh!" Shikamaru groaned in pain as his left knee broke in half as the blonde missing nin easily shattered it in half as he kicked it with a grin on his lips.

"Stupid brat isn't talking." The second ninja said from where he was leaning against the cave wall, looking rather bored.

Shikamaru looked at the missing nin with his usual expression of boredom on his face, while the wheels in his head were turning. He wasn't completely sure if his body could take anymore, he was already loosing blood at a rapid pace and many bones in his body were broken. He closed his eyes and remembered the conversation with his father about the Nara clan's secret justu.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_I'm going out, I'll be home later." Shikamaru called over his shoulder to his father as he opened the door to walk out, but he couldn't move an inch. He frowned, he knew this justu and the only one else around that knew that justu was his father._

"_What is so important dad that you had to use that?" Shikamaru sighed annoyed. _

"_I think it's time for us to talk. Man to man." Shikaku using his shadow justu brought his son back into the house and sit down across from him. _

"_Dad, we already had that 'talk'." Shikamaru felt blood rush to his cheeks. "And Asuma gave Choji and I one as well." _

_"No, no not that 'talk'. I think it's time for you to learn about a Nara clan secret justu." Shikaku released the justu now that his son was sitting across from him with his legs crossed. _

_"I thought I had been taught all of them…?" Shikamaru trailed off._

"_There is a reason, not many people in the Nara clan are taught this justu. Only the strongest ones are taught it and you my son are the strongest Nara in many generations." Shikaku stated with pride, pulling out a scroll with the Nara clan symbol on the seal. Shikamaru looked down at his lap, the blush returning at the pride coming from his father. _

_Shikaku handed over the scroll and Shikamaru looked up at his father. Shikaku nodded his head once and Shikamaru broke the seal and read the scroll and his eyebrows went up as he memorized the needed seals and read what the justu does. _

"_Dad this is…" Shikamaru trailed off. _

"_Only use it when there is no other way out." Shikaku stated seriously._

_"I promise father." Shikamaru nodded his head as he rolled the scroll back up. _

_End Flashback_

* * *

There was one problem with his plan, the fact that his arms were encased in the cave wall behind him. He opened his eyes and made eye contact with the blonde missing nin and a plan formed in his head.

"…I'll tell you what you want to know…" Shikamaru whispered hoarsely.

"Huh, I thought that you leaf ninja's would last longer." The blonde smirked.

"Let him down." The other ninja waved his hand and the earth that incased his arms. The leaf chunin fell to his knees, biting down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. He coughed a few times and frowned at the now blood speckled sand in front of him. Not good, his lung must have been pierced by one of his broken ribs.

"Now spill." The blonde grabbed the leaf teen by his now loose hair, his hair elastic having been destroyed a while back. While the missing nin's eyes were fixed on Shikamaru's face, not his hands which were forming the seals that he had memorized from the scroll his father had shown him.

"Go to hell." Shikamaru spat in the blonde's face as he finished the final seal and his charka spiked up dramatically, spreading out as far as it would reach before it fell down to dangerously low levels and Shikamaru went limp in the blonde missing ninja's grip.

"Damn, he's no use to us now." The blonde ninja growled backhanding the teen letting him fall back onto the ground. The leaf ninja's eyes were half open and glazed over; his breathing was extremely slow and steady. "Self-induced coma."

"Might as well kill him and leave his body as a warning to both Konoha and Sunagakure." The second ninja said moving towards Shikamaru's body, pulling a kunai out of his holster.

"It'll be my pleasure." The blonde did the same thing and they approached the fallen leaf ninja. Before they got the chance to even raise their kunai's sand rose up from the ground and tightly wrapped around their limbs immobilizing them both.

"You touch him again and you die." The voice of the Kazekage of Sunagakure echoed throughout the cave. Gaara had his arms crossed as sand rose up behind him ominously making the two missing nin feel a spike of dread cross over their bodies as Gaara glared at them with murderous intent. While slowly tightening the sand on the bodies of the men as Gaara walked towards the fallen form of Shikamaru. He knelt down beside his friend's head and checked for life force and charka. The redhead frowned deeply at how low they were and he then checked the wounds that missing nin's had inflicted on his friend. He growled lowly and turned towards the blonde ninja who had started to tremble.

"I only need one of you alive to question." Gaara mused aloud and with his glare set firmly on the blonde ninja and held his hand up before making it into a fist. The blonde ninja screamed out in pain before it was cut off as Gaara tightened his fist. He released the sand and the broken and dead body of the missing nin onto the ground and the sand surfed over to Shikamaru and it created a protective shield around the leaf ninja's limp form and bringing him up off the ground and Gaara left the cave while turning to head back to Sunagakure when familiar charka signals caught his attention and he turned to see many small dots moving towards where he was standing rapidly. Gaara crossed his arms and waited for the Konoha ninjas. Naruto reached them first, skidding to a halt beside Gaara.

"Gaara?" Naruto exclaimed as Sakura, Ino, Choji, Hinta, Kiba, Shino, Neji, TenTen and Lee. "Did you find Shikamaru?"

"He's right here Naruto." Gaara let the protective shield dissolve and the sand set Shikamaru onto the ground gently.

"Shikamaru!" Ino and Choji rushed over to their fallen team member.

"What happened to him?" Ino gasped looking up at Gaara. Sakura knelt beside Shikamaru's fallen form and her hands glowed a greenish blue as she scanned his body with a frown on her lips.

"His life force and charka are almost gone, he needs Lady Tsunade's healing skills now. I can't do anything for him right now." Sakura reported grimly. "The most I can do is heal some of his bodies injuries but that is all I can do." Then she went to work, healing the ribs, lung, broken bones and bleeding cuts.

"It must have something to do about that huge burst of charka we felt before." Kiba mumbled.

Neji and Hinta activated their Byakugan staring down at Shikamaru's body, frowning deeply at the lack of life force and charka flow going through the youngest Nara member.

"It's like everything in his body has lowered down to a level that is very similar to a…" Hinta trailed off, not wanting to say the truth.

"Similar to a coma." Neji finished and a grim silence settled over the group as Sakura worked.

"We do need to get him back to Lady Tsunade quickly." Kiba bite his lower lip and Akamaru whines, falling onto his stomach while his ear are pressed flat against his head.

"…I've done all I can here." Sakura wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, standing up slowly. "We need to move now."

"My sand is faster." Gaara stated and everyone looked at him. "He was coming to give me a message, him being ambushed is on me." Gaara gave the others no time to react as his sand re-wrapped around Shikamaru and the others all rose up on a wave of sand that flew towards Konoha.

"Wow you're right. This is WAY faster Gaara!" Naruto grinned up at his friend, Gaara allowed himself to smile briefly at his friend before glancing back over at the still form of Shikamaru and the smile disappeared.

"There is Konoha!" Choji shouted pointing at the huge gates of the hidden leaf village.

"We'll go down and tell the village not to worry." Neji offered up, TenTen and Lee nodded and the trio jumped down from the sand and went about warning people.

"Go straight to the hospital, I'll get Lady Tsunade and some ANBU to take the prisoner." Sakura nodded before she too dropped down onto a rooftop and took off towards where the Hokage was located. Gaara redirected his sand and placed them all safely down by the entrance of the hospital. Shikamaru's body was still encased in protective sand as the group rushed into the hospital. Seeing all the ninja's, a Kazekage and an unconscious ninja being cradled in sand, the medical nin sprung into action. Gaara with a lot of effort released Shikamaru into the medical nin's care.

"…Someone needs to tell his father." Ino realized aloud.

"You and Choji go get him, we will find Asuma." Kiba offered and the others nodded.

"We will wait for Baa-chan." Naruto looked at Gaara who nodded. The others looked at each other before sprinting off into the village. The duo didn't have to wait long as the doors flew open showing Tsunade and Sakura rushing in. Tsunade nodded at Gaara who nodded back before she flew into the operating room being briefed as she suited up. An ANBU appeared and took possession of the missing nin.

"Lady Tsunade is the best, if anyone can help Shikamaru it is her." Sakura soothed the two who just nodded before falling onto the plastic seats in the waiting room.

"Sorry to ask this Gaara… But why do you care so much about Shikamaru?" Sakura asked shyly.

"When I first became Kazekage, I had no idea what I was doing." Gaara admitted slowly. "Shikamaru Nara… Somehow he knew, I think he heard it from Temari… He showed up one day and offered his help. Since then he has been my trusted advisor, after I threatened him about hurting my sister we became close."

"Sure sounds like Shikamaru." Naruto grinned feeling proud of his two friends.

"When I felt his charka flare up, I already had teams out searching for him. I headed out at once and easily found where he was." Gaara finished his story just as the doors slid open and both teams returned with their targets in tow.

"What happened? Where is he?" Shikaku and Asuma both questioned at the same time, not even noticing that they were in sync.

Gaara told what happened at his end and Naruto told them about the clone Shika had sent.

"Damn, he used it." Shikaku rubbed his hands down over his face.

"He used what?" Asuma turned on Shikamaru's father, his eyes steely.

"I'll explain later, right now I need to talk to Lady Hokage." Shikaku met Asuma's glare before rushing off to talk to Tsunade. Asuma heaved a huge sigh as he dropped into the seat beside Naruto.

"He's going to be okay Asuma-Sensi." Ino tried to sound cheerful reverting to calling him sensei for the moment.

"He may be lazy but he's a fighter." Choji tried to sound just as cheerful.

"I know he is. I just want to know what he used…" Asuma sighed leaning back in his chair, wishing he had a cigarette.

Minutes passed and the ER doors opened as Shikaku, Tsunade and a still unconscious Shikamaru exited being rolled out on a bed.

"Will you tell us what is going on now?" Ino asked crossing her arms stubbornly, staring down Shikamaru's father.

"I'll make sure he is comfortable." Tsunade promised and she followed the bed holding Shikamaru down the hall.

"It's a Nara clan secret justu… Shikamaru wouldn't have used it if he had another way out. It is very dangerous… It makes the user's life force and charka flare up and spread out dramatically before falling dangerously low. That is meant to signal for help, but it has a horrible effect on the user… It effectively puts the user into a self-induced coma. It's dangerous because there is a 50/50 chance that the user will… Never wake up…" Shikaku trailed off.

"50/50 chance…" Ino looked down with sadness spreading across her face as Choji clenched his fists.

"Is there anything we can do to increase the chances of him waking up?" Sakura asked, racking her brain.

"In theory, if his charka levels were brought back up to normal then his chances of waking would increase dramatically." Shikaku said slowly after a moment of thought. "But no one has ever tried it… HHis charka may not be compatible with anyone else's…"

Ino and Choji exchanged looks and Asuma didn't meet anyone's eyes. Naruto saw this and opened his mouth to asked what was up.

"Can we see him now?" Ino spoke up swallowing hard, interrupting Naruto.

"Yes you can." Tsunade agreed as she entered the waiting area. "He's stable now and his wounds have been healed."

"I want to make sure he is fine and then we will talk if that is alright Lady Tsunade?" Gaara stood up looking at the Hokage who nodded with a soft smile on her face.

Naruto followed Gaara into Shikamaru's room and fell silent at the sight of his genius friend. His friend's hair was still down, his black hair contrasting harshly against his incredibly pale skin. He looked like the death warmed over, but he was breathing evenly and steadily.

"He's going to be fine… Shika is one of the strongest ninja's I've ever met… Also the laziest, but he will get past this." Naruto said aloud, meaning it for Gaara's benefit but it was also for his peace of mind.

Gaara held his hand up, palm facing upwards. A small stream of sand came out of the gourd on his back and swirled around his palm before it went and settled on the bottom of the bed before resting there.

"In case anything happens." Gaara said in response to the questioning look he knew he was getting from Naruto.

"We should go see baa-chan now." Naruto said after a few more moments in the silent room. Gaara nodded his head and the duo walked out and soon the duo became a trio as Tsunade joined the two while Sakura was called off to help some of her medical nin friends.

Kiba, Shino and Hinta went in next. Hinta placed a flower in a jug of water that was resting on the bedside table next to Shikamaru's bed. Akamaru whined and looked up at the still teen with his big sad puppy dog eyes. Kiba had the same eyes on as he sighed lowly as he saw the condition of the lazy ninja. Shino frowned from under his coat as he sent out a bug to rest on the stem of the flower Hinta brought to keep an eye out. Hinta saw both her teammates reactions and smiled to herself before touching Shikamaru's pale hand tenderly.

"Wake up soon Shikamaru…" She whispered.

"We should let the others come see him now." Shino said moving towards the door.

"Yeah… Yeah…" Kiba nodded and clicked his tongue and Akamaru followed his best friend out of the room.

The door slid open once again, this time to have Ino and Choji rush in, followed by Asuma and Shikaku. Ino sat on the end of the bed, her hand grasping Shikamaru's ankle while Choji patted his best friend's hand before sitting up on the windowsill. Asuma and Shikaku both took seats in the two plastic chairs, one on either side of Shikamaru's bedside. Without noticing, the two both took a hold of Shikamaru's hands, Ino and Choji exchanged glances again with small smirks on their faces.

"He's so pale, I keep telling him that he needs to do some tanning while he is being lazy and watching the clouds go by." Ino gave a small chuckle and Choji laughed as well remembering that conversation.

"The point of cloud watching is to watch clouds however since the clouds are in the sky and they block out the sun." Asuma said, that just made Ino and Choji burst out laughing.

"What?" Shikaku looked away from his son's sleeping face to look at his best friend's kids.

"That is exactly what Shikamaru said when Ino badgered him about it." Choji got out between his laughter.

"I think he is wearing off on you Asuma." Ino teased and the breaded man looked down as his cheeks became dusted with a small blush.

"About what you said before… About the transfer of charka… Can you tell me more about it?" Asuma cleared his throat, changing the topic looking determinedly at Shikaku.

"If Shikamaru and someone else have compatible charka then in theory if they place their hands over his heart and pump their charka into his veins letting it bring up Shikamaru's own charka levels then, again in theory, he should wake up from his self-induced coma." Shikaku explained and the other three in the room exchanged looks again.

"Okay, does anyone want to explain to me why you all are exchanging looks like you know something." Shikaku leaned back in his chair and looked at the trio.

"Shikamaru and I have compatible charka." Asuma spoke up quietly looking at Shikamaru's face.

"You what?" Shikaku couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Having compatible charka is a one in one million chance."

"Shikamaru was the one to figure it out…" Ino spoke up.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Damnit Asuma-Sensei!" Shikamaru Nara cursed his breaded sensei as he kept the pressure on the older man's bleeding wound on his chest, too near his heart for comfort. "Why did you jump in front of that attack?" _

_"Couldn't let it hit you. I promised that I would protect you three with my own life." Asuma breathed out, his body arching upwards in pain. _

"_So troublesome sensei…" Shikamaru frowned. "You don't have enough charka to heal…I'm going to transfer my charka to you." Shikamaru decided._

"_No Shika… We may not be… Compatible." Asuma coughed up some blood._

"_Trust me Asuma-Sensei. I know what I'm doing. I'm not about to stand by and let you bleed out when I could have done something. I'm not letting you go down without a fight." Shikamaru looked his sensei in the eyes with a steely look in his own. _

_"I trust you." Asuma stated firmly, feeling his heart warming at his student's words. "Do it." _

"_Alright here we go…" Shikamaru placed both his hands over Asuma's heart and shouted out as his body became outlined in his blue charka before it all travelled down to his hands and then slowly Asuma's body became outlined in blue charka and the wound stopped it's bleeding. _

_"Done…" Shikamaru smiled down at his sensei before slumping down onto Asuma's broad chest, drained of charka and passed out. Asuma slowly sat up; making sure Shikamaru didn't fall off his chest. _

_"We drove them off… Asuma-sensei! You're all right! What happened to Shikamaru?" Ino asked in a rush as she and Choji dropped down onto the spot where the other two people from their team were located. _

"_He gave me his charka to heal my wounds, then he passed out…" Asuma explained standing up, cradling Shikamaru's body in his arms. _

_"But for that to work don't the two charka's need to be compatible? I heard my father talking about that once…" Choji questioned confused._

_"Shikamaru told me to trust him. He must have known that our charkas were compatible and he took a huge risk to transfer some of his charka to me." Asuma explained. "Let's get away from here, he needs a real place to rest." _

"_Right." Ino and Choji nodded their heads in agreement. _

_End Flashback_

* * *

"That's why I know we have compatible charka's and if I can transfer some of my own charka into him to even bring up his chances of waking up out of this coma then damnit I'm going to do it." Asuma said evenly staring down Shikaku with a look that dared him to try to stop him.

"Amazing… I want my son to wake up just as much as you do Asuma… Do it." Shikaku nodded his head and stood back beside Choji and Ino as Asuma placed his hands over Shikamaru's slowly beating heart.

"You saved me once kid, time to return the favor." Asuma mumbled and he let out a 'ha!' as he focused his charka. He became outlined in blue charka and it transferred from his body down towards Shikamaru's. The teenager's form became shining with charka and the heart monitor began to slowly rise up as the teen's heart started to pick up the pace. Asuma breathed out from his nose loudly and held on for a few more seconds before he let out a huff of air and collapsed back down into his own chair. Tense moments passed before a small groan came from Shikamaru's lips as his eyes fluttered open slowly. Shikaku and Asuma quickly stood beside his bedside, grabbing his hands without noticing the other was doing the same thing. Choji and Ino beamed at each other at the scene in front of them.

"…Suma? Dad?" Shikamaru whispered out, his throat dry and lips chapped.

"We're here, you're going to be alright son." Shikaku said quickly smiling at his son.

"…Sorry… No choice." Shikamaru murmured, eyes darting from his sensei to his father.

"It's fine, everything is fine now." Shikaku soothed, accepting his son's apology. He suddenly tensed up and looked up at the door. "The wife is here… I better go calm her down. Take care of my son Asuma, he really looks up to you."

"I promise." Asuma nodded at Shikaku who slid out of the room. Gaara's sand shifted slightly as part of it separated and slid under the door, heading to report to Gaara whilst Shino's bug buzzed as it reported back to Shino.

"If you ever do that again…" Asuma trailed off as he ran his hand gently over Shikamaru's face as Choji and Ino approached the bed.

"I'll kick your ass into next week." Choji huffed.

"You really freaked us all out Shika." Ino huffed as well.

"Sorry… What happened?" Shikamaru asked slowly as Choji helped him take a few sip of water from a nearby cup of water. The rest of his old team told him what they knew and from what Gaara told them. Asuma sighed after the story was finished and excused himself for a smoke break, leaving the teens in the hospital room together.

"So on another note, Asuma and your father were pretty much in sync today." Choji piped up.

"Eh?" Shikamaru looked at his friends with a raised eyebrow.

"They both were acting like worried overprotective fathers, your dad I get but man it was a sight to see Asuma acting like that." Ino smiled happily.

"Then again… He always kind of was like that when one of us were hurt." Choji mused.

"He was holding your hand and he touched your face and he was freaking out when he heard about what happened." Ino went on to say and giggled at the blush that was creeping up on Shikamaru's cheeks.

"Why would he…?" Shikamaru trailed off looking at his best friends.

"Because I think of you three as my own kids and a parent is supposed to be overprotective and worried when they get hurt." Asuma stated from the open doorway he was leaning against.

"Asuma…" The trio looked at him in surprise.

"Now let Shika get some sleep. He actually has a good excuse to be lazy now." He smirked and Shikamaru smiled at his old mentor.

"Thank god." Shikamaru settled back against his pillows.

* * *

~~/~~

Later that night, after more visits by friends and family, he talked with Tsunade and Gaara, both of whom expressed how horrible they felt about what happened but Shikamaru being Shikamaru brushed it off, telling them it wasn't their fault. He calmed down his mother and promised his father never to use the justu again (he himself agreed, it was too dangerous, if Asuma hadn't been there…) and finally night fell.

Choji somehow managed to spread out on the windowsill and fell asleep. Ino was curled up at the foot of his bed also fast asleep. The duo refusing to leave their best friends side, no matter who told them they should leave. Shikamaru sent his parents home to sleep in actual beds, the only way he got his mother to leave was to promise he would let her baby him when he got home until he was back to his full strength. Shikamaru was still propped up thanks to his array of pillows, slipping in and out of sleep when the door silently slid open. Shikamaru's eyes flew open and his body tensed, out of reflex but when he saw Asuma slide into the room and quietly drop onto the chair beside the bed. Ino shuffled around, the bearded **[Thanks Kawaii Fruits]** man placed his hand on top of her blonde head and in a few moments she was still as she slept peacefully.

"Asuma?" Shikamaru asked drowsily.

"Get some rest Shika, I'll be right here." Asuma smiled at the teen, touching his forehead.

"Mkay…" Shikamaru slurred as his eyes closed as he unconsciously leant into his ex sensei's touch as he fell back asleep. Asuma removed his hand and leaned back in his chair, settling in to watch over his old team for the night. He knew he should be upset that Shikamaru didn't tell him about the secret justu that almost took him away from the world, but he understood. He however would kick Shikamaru's ass if he tried something like that again. He smiled at the sight of his old team all fast asleep, easy in each other's presences.

His kid's indeed.


End file.
